Posted by: Brian S-ski
There is good news and bad news to report for the 2009 Dam Night Run 5K for the LRRC Racing Teams. First the good news:
Justin Radke was the overall race winner in a time of 16:05! We had a strong showing from the men’s team and came up just one point shy of winning the male team competition at the race. Considering all the LRRC men out of town or injured this weekend, a one point loss to Club Arkadelphia on their home course is a result to be proud of. The men’s team consisted of Radke, Imari Dellimore, Bill Diamond, Joel Perez, David Williams, Raj Bhanot, Jeff Maher, Greg Helmbeck, Bill Torrey, Roy Smith, Dan Belanger and Carl Northcutt.
Justin Radke celebrates with some watermelon after taking first place at the Dam Night Run
The bad news is that the LRRC women just missed having enough finishers to score points in the female team competition. In order to earn Grand Prix points, a club must have 3 female finishers and we had just 2 at the Dam Night Run. A big salute to Becky and Alea Humes for representing the LRRC at the race. There is good news on the female side as well: clubs are allowed to drop their four lowest scores on the season, so our zero at this race will be wiped out. I should also add that the Roadrunner ladies are still #1 on the season leaderboard.
After the race LRRC partied in style with food, drinks, lawn games, and video footage of the 1993 Dam Night Run in which Radke held the early lead over NCAA 5K Champ Brian Baker before running out of gas after a 4:27 first mile. If you’ve never been to the Dam Night Run, I strongly encourage you to attend the 2010 running for the party alone.
The LRRC crew parties after the race with rare video footage of a 17 year old Justin Radke at the 1993 DNR 5K
There are more pictures from the race, the after party and a few leftover from the Twilight 5K earlier this month up in the LRRC photo gallery now.
Next up: The White River 4 Mile Classic in Batesville is this Saturday, August 1st. This is a Championship Race and crucial in the Grand Prix competition. We need every able-bodied Roadrunner to invade Batesville and come home with a sweep of the team titles! Check out the LRRC forum if you are interested in car pooling to the race.
Posted 2 years, 9 months ago at 7:51 pm. 1 comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
Thanks to our new logo, we all know that the Little Rock Roadrunners Club was founded in 1977. For many club members, myself included, that information represents our entire knowledge of LRRC history. I think many club members, myself included, really are interested in learning more of the Club’s history, there just isn’t any way to read up on it. Until now…
One of the projects that the LRRC Board of Directors has taken on this year is to find and restore as much LRRC history as possible. As a start, June Barron contacted long-time club members Lou and Charlie Peyton. Lucky for us, the Peytons have issues of our Club newsletter going back over 30 years. I will be scanning these copies and posting them to the Club website on the RunAround archives page.
The oldest RunAround that the Peytons had was from January 1979 (I was 6 months old at the time); it features 3 articles and full results from the 2nd annual Road Hog Road Race 10K. You can check it out for yourself, here:
http://arkrrca.com/html/LRRR/newsletter/1979/january.pdf
The RunAround was half-sheet size back then with small type, but since it is a PDF file you can enlarge and rotate the image for your viewing needs. January 1979 is the current starting point, and additional RunAround back issues will be posted on our Archives page in the coming weeks and months.
Other plans include interviews with founding Club members and posting of old Capital City Classic 10K results back when it was called the Pepsi 10K.
If you have any historical club information in old papers or just rolling around in your head, please let us know. You can email the club address or post a comment to this blog. Help us make “Running Little Rock Since 1977″ more than just a slogan!
Posted 2 years, 10 months ago at 9:13 am. 1 comment
Posted by: Presto
A few of the Little Rock Roadrunners invaded the Pacific Northwest this past weekend, including our very own Leah Thorvilson (hoping for revenge from her 2 second loss at Green Bay). The weather was perfect. It started with an early morning chill and a search for a vacant potty! By mid-day, the temps only reached into the low 70s with little to no humidity.
The course was a very hilly according to most others in Seattle, but what are hills to Little Rockians? There were awesome views to be seen all along the course including: Lake Washington (there was a bald eagle sighting), Mount Rainier in the background, running on the world’s longest floating bridge (I-90), the Space Needle, and Pudget Sound via the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The only kicker was at about mile 23 and a half you went downhill and you knew that at mile 25 you were going to have to come right back up it.
In the marathon, Leah Thorvilson had a great tug of war with Michele Suszek of Westminster, CO. According to the Seattle Times, there were 3 lead changes in the final 6 miles. I remember passing Leah as I was going towards North Seattle and she was making her way back south and you could see the war eyes on her as she was neck and neck with her opponent. Leah finished as the 2nd overall female with an awesome time of 2 hours 38 mins and 49 seconds, only 12 seconds behind Suszek. Great race Leah! Being able to hold a great duel like that late in the race is a big accomplishment in itself… Among others to run the marathon was Michael Harmon. The marathon happened to fall on his birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARMON!!! He gave himself a nice present with a whopping 35 min PR with a time of 4 hours 41 mins and 48 secs. Way to go! Raj Bhanot completed the course in 3 hours 43 mins and 27 secs. I wish I could have his excitement so late in a marathon. He was cheering fellow Roadruners on late into the race while finishing in a fast time himself. Myself, I ran 3 hours 17 mins and 14 secs. Loved the course, but my body hated the Cytomax (is it just me or does that stuff taste like sweet tea). I ended up almost puking on the guy that handed me my medal.
LEAH THORVILSON AT FINISH
STEVEN PRESTON AT FINISH
In the half marathon, John Russell came sneaking by his wife, Polly, at the finish line in 2 hours 19 mins and 40 secs. Leah’s sister, Jamie, also had a great half time of 1 hour 37 mins and 38 secs. I ran with her for a bit in the first half and I can tell that the great personality runs in Leah’s family.
As this was a Rock ‘N’ Roll event, they had a R&B singer (can’t explain) for the headliner concert that night, Keb Mo. However, with a few bottles of Washington’s finest merlots, the crew had a fantastic time swaying to the rhythms. Before the concert started, Leah received her first Billboard Top 100 gold record (see below).
LEAH MAKES HER DEBUT ON THE BILLBOARD TOP 100
GROUP SHOT AT HEADLINER CONCERT THAT NIGHT
Seattle Rocked!
Posted 2 years, 10 months ago at 3:50 pm. Add a comment
